Christian Baker Forced To Make Cake For Gay Couples – Update
Baker Jack Phillips was ordered by a judge last year to make cake for gay couples, which Phillips had refused to do because of his religious beliefs. Last month he filed an appeal.
The decision by the judge was reinforced by the Civil Rights Commission of Colorado – Phillips must now submit quarterly reports for two years to show how he’s changed his “discriminatory practices.”
“Any person doing business in Colorado has to recognize that they have to do business in an ethical and law abiding way and the law says you cannot discriminate,” stated Raju Jairam, vice chairman of the commission.
And what of our First Amendment law that says Phillips has free-speech rights and free-exercise rights?
The ACLU is involved in the case against Phillips: “We at the ACLU very much support religious freedom, but religious freedom doesn’t mean that somebody who has a business has the right to discriminate against members of the public who want to patronize the business,” stated Mark Silverstein from the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.
Where do you stand with the 1st Amendment rights of an individual as it might conflict with the discrimination of others?
Nearly two years after a same-sex couple was refused service at a Colorado cake shop, a civil rights panel on Friday deemed the act discrimination and ordered the owner to halt the practice.
The state’s seven-member Civil Rights Commission reinforced a December ruling from an administrative law judge who said Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips discriminated against Charlie Craig and David Mullins when he refused to make them a wedding cake because of religious objections.
In its decision, the panel required Phillips to submit quarterly reports for two years that show how he has worked to change discriminatory practices by altering company policies and training employees. Phillips also must disclose the names of any clients who are turned away.
“Any person doing business in Colorado has to recognize that they have to do business in an ethical and law abiding way and the law says you cannot discriminate,” said Raju Jairam, vice chairman of the commission.
Craig and Mullins filed charges of discrimination with the state’s Civil Rights Commission in July 2012 after they were turned away by the Lakewood baker while trying to buy a cake for a wedding reception.
Colorado law bans discrimination in a public place on grounds of sexual orientation, but Phillips has argued that forcing him to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples violates his right to First Amendment free-speech and freedom-of-religion rights.
Phillips and his attorney are considering an appeal to the Colorado Court of Appeals. He suggested on Friday that the rights of business owners with similar views were taken away by the commission.
Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cake in Lakewood, decorates a birthday cake Thursday, January 3, 2012. (Lindsay Pierce, Denver Post file photo)
“Not all of life is fair,” Phillips said said after the commission’s decision. “I will stand by my convictions until somebody shuts me down.”
Craig and Mullins said the panel’s decision validated everything they had been feeling. The couple said they have been inundated with support from people across the country since their story became public.
“When it came time to file the lawsuit we realized that this wasn’t just about us and they weren’t just supporting us as individuals,” Mullins said. “They were supporting the idea that gays shouldn’t be discriminated against in public accommodations. We felt like the best way we could honor what they had done for us was to follow this through. It hasn’t always been the easy road, but I believe we’ve been on the right one.”
In his December ruling, administrative law judge Robert N. Spencer said offering the same services to gay couples as it would heterosexual couples did not violate the cake shop owner’s right to free speech or prevent him from exercising his religion.
The judge ordered the cake shop owner to “cease and desist” from discriminating against same-sex couples. He said the fact that Colorado does not recognize same-sex marriage does not excuse discrimination based on sexual orientation. Colorado allows civil unions.
“At first blush, it may seem reasonable that a private business should be able to refuse service to anyone it chooses,” the judge wrote. “This view, however, fails to take into account the cost to society and the hurt caused to persons who are denied service simply because of who they are.”
Spencer said the cake shop owner’s argument “would allow a business that served all races to nonetheless refuse to serve an interracial couple because of the business owner’s bias against interracial marriage.”
The conservative Christian organization Alliance Defending Freedom appealed the ruling in January by arguing that the government was “attempting to force Jack to violate his sincerely held religious beliefs and to compel him to speak a message that is contrary to his actual beliefs.”
Nicolle Martin, attorney for Masterpiece Cakeshop, called the ruling disappointing.
Dennie: There is a difference between making someone eat something they don’t want to, and being refused something a person does want.
Think about it this way: should a person be able to refuse service based on the color of their skin? If the answer is no, then you have your answer. We went through this when blacks fought for their rights. Now gays are doing the same.
As a matter of fact, while the civil rights act of 64 was meant to make sure establishments couldn’t discriminate against blacks… It extended further. Making it so that businesses couldn’t have arbitrary reasons for not serving a person.
Welcome to George Soros’s, Hillary Clinton’s, and Barrack Obama’s United States.
Barrack Obama and the lobbyists know huge corporations with poison GMO’s can do a better job feeding Americans than individual small farms, and give more money to politicians.
In Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, California many men and women have small farms and ranches where they grow animals like sheep, goats, chickens, cows, and other animals and farm a few acres to help support their family and supply food for their family. Their health and security are under attack by the state governments and the United States government, today.
The monsters in our government working against the people of the United States and their Human Rights and Freedoms and their welfare and their pursuit of happiness must be stopped.
Every elected Official in Michigan should be fired today and their new law against small ranches and farms should be struck down.
The Bureau of Land Management in the United States and every part of it should be shut down, today.
The IRS should be shut down, today.
The EPA should be shut down, today.
The National Endowment for Democracy should be shut down, today.
Barrack Obama should be arrested for Treason, Hillary Clinton should be arrested for Treason, Susan Rice, Eric Holder, Joe Biden, John Kerry, and every one of Barrack Obama’s appointees should be fired Today.
The United States of George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, Joe Biden, our current Senate, our current House, our current Federal Judges, and Barrack Obama is not the Untied States of America our Patiriots bled and died for.
No Incumbents
Barrack Obama and the CIA finance the Al Qaeda..
If NATO or the United States had any respect for human life or our world they would end their war against Terror. It is so hard to tell the Terrorists we fight from the Terrorists we train, support, finance, and equip.
Why do the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Homeland Security need so many weapons and so much Ammo ? They operate inside the United States, they need them to murder United States citizens for Obama.
They have not fired Barrack Obama and Eric Holder.
Vote every one of them out.
Common Core Education is as stupid and wrong as Obamacare, the NDAA, the Cyber Security Bill, the Monsanto Get out of Jail Free Bill, and our stupid War on Terror. Shut down the DHS, FCC, FED, IRS, EPA, the Bureau of Land Management and every other agency that has worked with Harry Reid, Eric Holder, Joe Biden, and Barrack Obama and is too corrupt and criminal to continue to function as it was designed to protect and serve the citizens of the Untied States and not act like a Terrorist Organization.
This is what Obama’s Terrorists have done to Syria.
This is what the National Endowment and George Soros, the EU, and the United States created, supported, and financed the violence and Terrorism in the Ukraine for. They want to spread NATO and the United States War from Africa and the Middle East into Europe and Asia, for now. North and South America and the rest of the world comes later.
No Incumbents.
The United States and NATO are the bad guys in Syria, the bad guys in the rest of the Middle East, the bad guys in Africa, and they are the bad guys in Europe and Asia. NATO is nothing more than a War Machine and every nation in NATO should get out of NATO. NATO like the EU is a good idea gone horribly wrong.
The United States’ drone strikes were criticized by rights groups, including Amnesty International, which released a damning report on the US military’s use of drones to kill suspected terrorists.
The Drone Strikes are War Crimes.
The strikes, which typically happen in Pakistan, Yemen, and Afghanistan, are a huge source of tension between the three nations and the United States.
While the extent of human loss of life on the ground isn’t known, Amnesty and other rights organizations say that the drones strikes may have killed hundreds of innocent civilians, notes Reuters.
Amnesty conducted a detailed investigation in Pakistan’s North Waziristan, where the majority of the strikes take place. They discovered that two strikes last year killed a Pakistani grandmother and 18 civilian laborers.
Dennie: There is a difference between making someone eat something they don’t want to, and being refused something a person does want.
Think about it this way: should a person be able to refuse service based on the color of their skin? If the answer is no, then you have your answer. We went through this when blacks fought for their rights. Now gays are doing the same.
Anthony: glad we could agree on something. Lol
id close my business and move out of colorado
Roger, you are going to have to move out of the country because Colorado is indicative of where this nation is going.
This is a load of BS. He has the absolute right to refuse service to anyone, for any reason, PERIOD. His personal reasons are completely irrelevant!!
^^I agree with Matthew!
This is so sad,
Mathew: that is incorrect. The civil rights act of 1964 makes sure of that.
As a matter of fact, while the civil rights act of 64 was meant to make sure establishments couldn’t discriminate against blacks… It extended further. Making it so that businesses couldn’t have arbitrary reasons for not serving a person.
http://www.offthegridnews.com/2014/05/02/michigan-bans-animals-on-small-farms/
Welcome to George Soros’s, Hillary Clinton’s, and Barrack Obama’s United States.
Barrack Obama and the lobbyists know huge corporations with poison GMO’s can do a better job feeding Americans than individual small farms, and give more money to politicians.
In Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, California many men and women have small farms and ranches where they grow animals like sheep, goats, chickens, cows, and other animals and farm a few acres to help support their family and supply food for their family. Their health and security are under attack by the state governments and the United States government, today.
The monsters in our government working against the people of the United States and their Human Rights and Freedoms and their welfare and their pursuit of happiness must be stopped.
Every elected Official in Michigan should be fired today and their new law against small ranches and farms should be struck down.
The Bureau of Land Management in the United States and every part of it should be shut down, today.
The IRS should be shut down, today.
The EPA should be shut down, today.
The National Endowment for Democracy should be shut down, today.
Barrack Obama should be arrested for Treason, Hillary Clinton should be arrested for Treason, Susan Rice, Eric Holder, Joe Biden, John Kerry, and every one of Barrack Obama’s appointees should be fired Today.
The United States of George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, Joe Biden, our current Senate, our current House, our current Federal Judges, and Barrack Obama is not the Untied States of America our Patiriots bled and died for.
No Incumbents
Barrack Obama and the CIA finance the Al Qaeda..
If NATO or the United States had any respect for human life or our world they would end their war against Terror. It is so hard to tell the Terrorists we fight from the Terrorists we train, support, finance, and equip.
Welcome to Obama’s Police State.
This is not Kenya or Indonesia.
http://www.westernjournalism.com/lawsuit-police-detain-dozens-innocent-citizens-gunpoint/
http://www.nationalwriterssyndicate.com/content/view/2833/2/obamas-acts-of-treason-violations-of-federal-laws/
If you want four more years of Obama, vote for Hillary “Obama” Clinton.
Why are our Federal Agencies becoming better equipped than our Military and our local police?
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/SS.html
You know why.
http://ow.ly/wVkM9
http://www.wnd.com/2014/05/left-scrambles-to-defend-release-of-criminal-illegals/
http://www.westernjournalism.com/stunner-obama-scheme-shutting-legal-gun-stores/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/16/agriculture-department-puts-request-buy-body-armo/
Why do the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Homeland Security need so many weapons and so much Ammo ? They operate inside the United States, they need them to murder United States citizens for Obama.
http://rt.com/usa/us-homeland-security-bullets-congress-703/
http://www.infowars.com/dhs-buys-7000-full-auto-assault-rifles-calls-them-personal-defense-weapons/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2013/03/10/why-the-heck-is-dhs-buying-more-than-a-billion-bullets-plus-thousands-of-guns-and-mine-resistant-armored-vehicles/
Shut down the criminal organization they call DHS and give their equipment and weapons to the FBI.
http://www.truthandaction.org/dhs-now-raiding-flea-markets/
Since when was it the job of our Department of Homeland Security to harass, intimidate, and arrest little old ladies at yard sales and flea markets?
Shut down the Department of Homeland Security.
Our current Senators and Representatives have not seen to it that Obama has been arrested for Treason and that Eric Holder has been fired.
Vote every one of them out.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=740371782650431&set=a.509153389105606.112928.508972909123654&type=1&theater
Patriots and Conservatives care.
Liberals don’t care.
That is the difference.
No Incumbents.
They have not fired Barrack Obama and Eric Holder.
Vote every one of them out.
Common Core Education is as stupid and wrong as Obamacare, the NDAA, the Cyber Security Bill, the Monsanto Get out of Jail Free Bill, and our stupid War on Terror. Shut down the DHS, FCC, FED, IRS, EPA, the Bureau of Land Management and every other agency that has worked with Harry Reid, Eric Holder, Joe Biden, and Barrack Obama and is too corrupt and criminal to continue to function as it was designed to protect and serve the citizens of the Untied States and not act like a Terrorist Organization.
http://ow.ly/wQxSB
Get out of the horrible monster we call the United Nations, they have no respect for Human Life, Human Rights, or Freedom, like Barrack Obama.
In Muslim nations women and children have the right to do as they are told and the freedom to be quiet.
https://www.facebook.com/JamalDajani2/photos/a.10150141015580444.403579.166587400443/10154160413735444/?type=1
This is what Obama’s Terrorists have done to Syria.
This is what the National Endowment and George Soros, the EU, and the United States created, supported, and financed the violence and Terrorism in the Ukraine for. They want to spread NATO and the United States War from Africa and the Middle East into Europe and Asia, for now. North and South America and the rest of the world comes later.
No Incumbents.
The United States and NATO are the bad guys in Syria, the bad guys in the rest of the Middle East, the bad guys in Africa, and they are the bad guys in Europe and Asia. NATO is nothing more than a War Machine and every nation in NATO should get out of NATO. NATO like the EU is a good idea gone horribly wrong.
The United States’ drone strikes were criticized by rights groups, including Amnesty International, which released a damning report on the US military’s use of drones to kill suspected terrorists.
The Drone Strikes are War Crimes.
The strikes, which typically happen in Pakistan, Yemen, and Afghanistan, are a huge source of tension between the three nations and the United States.
While the extent of human loss of life on the ground isn’t known, Amnesty and other rights organizations say that the drones strikes may have killed hundreds of innocent civilians, notes Reuters.
Amnesty conducted a detailed investigation in Pakistan’s North Waziristan, where the majority of the strikes take place. They discovered that two strikes last year killed a Pakistani grandmother and 18 civilian laborers.
Welcome to Obama’s World.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1437471899845060&set=gm.278198455687383&type=1
Arrest Barrack Obama for Treason. Fire Holder, Kerry, Biden, and every one of Obama’s Appointees.
Susan Rice, Hillary Clinton, and Barrack Obama’s lies about Benghazi are Obstruction of Justice and Treason.
Susan Rice’s, Hilary Clinton’s, Obama’s, and Obama’s Administration’s “Talking Points” about Benghazi were lies, Obstruction of Justice, and Treason.
Shred every one of Obama’s Executive Orders.
No Incumbents.